Preparing boys for life

Scotch in Action

Scotch in Action showcases the broad spectrum of events and activities at Scotch College.

Sustainable September

Sustainable September

Sustainable September (
www.sustainableseptember.net.au/) is an initiative from a range of WA religious, community related and government sponsored organisations who came together to recognise the inextricable triple bottom line relationship between environmental, social and economic priorities.

In an attempt to recognise and promote the important message illustrated by the Sustainable September initiative , numerous activities have been undertaken around Scotch during this month. For example:

Chapel:

Throughout Week 8 of Winter Term Sebastion Sweeney (Yr 12 Cameron - Captain of Drama) aka 'Vladamir from Russia' and Rory O'Keefe (Yr 12 Stuart) aka 'Ozzie' performed an entertaining skit in Chapel to the amusement of attending staff and boys. Their skit was an adaptation of the the original script "Conversations with God", bravely acted out in front of their peers to promote an important message in as light hearted a way as possible: are out actions as a collective society as sustainable as they can be. The intention here was that with humour and maturity as a society, we can take a step back to look at how we do certain things and question whether there is a better way to do it which is not quite so illogical and nonsensical! This was just another example of the opportunities offered to Scotch boys to question the status quo and challenge them to be agents of change.

Year 11 Leadership program:

As a culmination of their year-long Leadership course, all 10 Pastoral Houses were challenged to come up with an environmental action over a 4 week period. There were entertaining ideas, some more practical and realistic than others, ranging from saving the Swan River (Anderson House), promoting a Walk to School Day (St Andrew House) to introducing Recycling and raising awareness regarding Litter around the school (Brisbane House). The overall prize however for the House most successful in planning and carrying out their action went to Ferguson House for their Sustainable food initiative which saw them set up raised garden beds and plant vegetable seedlings. Every house had to present their achievements during a special celebratory morning session in the Memorial Hall where they first heard the inspirational story of OSC ('94) Patrick Hollingworth talking about his expedition to be only the 3
rd West Australian to climb Mt Everest earlier this year in a bid to raise awareness on Men's Health and environmentalism. The attached photos give an indication of events associated with this initiative.

Yr 9 Environmental Excursions:

On Friday 3 September boys from Year 9 participated in environmental activities. The afternoon was designed to complement the end of a 14 week Sustainability Unit that all boys have been studying in their Society and Environment classes throughout Autumn and Winter Terms. In this unit they looked at concepts such as resources, scarcity, economic problem, factors of production, explored the complexities of Population distribution and density, before considering the role of Climate & Weather and how all these interact to influence our ability to use our land. Classes were challenged to bring together their understanding of the intricate relationship between these concepts by analysing original, and at times controversial resources, such as the 1970s
The Lorax , the
Story of Stuff (
www.storyofstuff.com), Dick Smith's
Population Puzzle documentary (
http://dicksmithpopulation.com) and comedian John Doyle with Tim Flannery's documentary journey down the Murray River in
"Two men in a Tinny" . This is yet another demonstration of the School's ongoing commitment to challenge our young citizens about what practical things they might want to do to make their environment more sustainable in future.

Vocational Breakfast

The annual series of Year 12 Vocational breakfasts took place in June and was the most successful ever held in terms of student numbers. A total of 107 Year 12 students benefited from the exchange of study/career information with recent Scotch graduates. Held over four Wednesdays and covering the occupations of Commerce, Finance, Economics, Engineering, Architecture, Physiotherapy, Human Movement, Medicine, Journalism and Law, the opportunity to hear first hand information from former Scotch leavers' was invaluable.

Days of Change at Scotch

In yet another example of Scotch's increasing involvement in the field of sustainability, Mr Gary Warden, Executive Director of Days of Change, spoke to the Senior School Assembly on Friday 21 May.

Gary's message was a relatively simple yet highly motivational one: he appealed to students, staff and parents to engage with the Days of Change pledge concept by committing to making simple changes to their lifestyle in order to reduce our ecological footprint. Gary spoke passionately, drawing from personal experiences in which he made significant lifestyle changes in his quest to become more sustainable.

All members of the Scotch community are encouraged to demonstrate their support of this worthwhile initiative by signing up to the School Pledge page by following this
link. To personally sign up or read more information visit the Days of Change
website.

Jungle Fever

After six weeks of creating their paper collages, on the final day of Summer Term the Year 4 boys were ready to put the final touches on their jungle masterpieces.

Inspired by artist in residence Rachel Zimmerman, the boys' labours reached a satisfying conclusion with bright tigers creeping through their paper jungles. Decision making during the creative process was evident in the finished product - emotion, style and texture were harnessed to create unique and individual pieces.

It was a happy conclusion to the creative journey shared with Ms Zimmerman, who works primarily with paper and textiles. The boys are also searching for a name for the owl Ms Zimmerman made, with the final decision yet to be announced.

Paper Tigers

Scotch Junior School Year 4 boys are launching into an exciting art project at the direction of mixed media artist, Rachel Zimmerman. Ms Zimmerman's unique paper collages are the creative inspiration for the boys' exploration of colour, space and shape as they create their own exciting piece.

Advised by Ms Zimmerman, Junior School Art teacher Ms Karen Sabitay and a posse of helpful parents, the boys started out with basic sketches of a tiger in its jungle environment on day one of their six days of creativity. Over six weeks the art will unfold so watch this space!

Pancakes help the Homeless

On Shrove Tuesday Scotch boys helped members of the Ross Memorial Church in West Perth make and sell pancakes. Proceeds from the delicious foothpath fare went to the Homeless of Perth.

Swimming makes history

Alexander House became the proud bearers of the Inter House Swimming cup on a day that will go down in Scotch history.

Alexander wins Swimming Cup

After 15 long years of holding the Inter House Swimming cup, St Andrew's House was finally vanquished in a thrilling battle at Challenge Stadium on Wednesday 10 February.

In the final race, the Year 12 Division 1 4 x 50m freestyle relay, St Andrew's still had a chance of victory but Alexander only needed to place six to seize the cup. It was close, but not that close, and the Green shirts were the ones to hold the cup aloft at the end of the day.

2010 SCOTCH COLLEGE INTER-HOUSE SWIMMING OFFICIAL RESULTS

POSITION

HOUSE

POINTS

1st

Alexander

724

2nd

St Andrews

711

3rd

Stuart

678.5

4th

Ross

653

5th

Shearer

624

6th

Anderson

618

7th

Brisbane

535

8th

Ferguson

479.5

9th

Cameron

462

10th

Keys

348

Scotch College and iTunes U

Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC) and Scotch College will be among the first in Australia to experience a new and exciting version of digital education.

Scotch College and iTunes U

Students at Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies' College will be able to access class instruction, course materials and lectures from their own curriculum anywhere, anytime from iTunes following the introduction of the K-12 section on
iTunes U.

iTunes U is already a popular technology enabling the easy distribution of digital content. Leading universities in this country and around the world have already incorporated
iTunes U into their learning systems, but until now it has not been used in Australian schools.

Please
click here to view a video tutorial to find out more about the benefits of
iTunes U.

PLC Principal Beth Blackwood and Scotch College Headmaster Andrew Syme said the Colleges are committed to meeting the changing learning needs of their students.

"Today there are many ways for students to engage in learning. We want to provide our students with a learning environment that is flexible and delivers a variety of learning resources and experiences that take advantage of technology".

"Online and mobile learning opportunities are now a very important and valuable part of our students' learning experience. Educating for the world of today means that our students need to be confident and wise users of information and communication technologies", they said.

The Colleges created a joint committee this year to examine the exciting possibilities of digital curriculum and to harness the enthusiasm of students skilled in online collaboration and 21st century learning skills.

"Being able to access classroom lessons at home means students can revise at their own speed, as well as giving parents the opportunity to keep in touch with their children's learning".

"While we will continue to teach in a conventional school environment, this provides us with a new opportunity to engage students in learning".

Initially podcasts that include audio and video of classes for revision purposes, as well as presentations from guest speakers, documents and study aids will be available for students, with plans to continually add material.

Members of the public will also be able to share in the life of the school community with access to examples of learning material, concerts and public lectures featuring staff, students and keynote speakers.

An Ecological Afternoon

An Ecological Afternoon

Last Friday 4 September about 280 boys in Year 8 and 9 were involved in an afternoon of activities with an environmental focus. Boys were put into 5 groups partaking in either:

- Planting seedlings with Mr Barrett to help get the Kitchen Garden going,- Maintaining tree guards and mulching around Lake Claremont,- Interacting and exploring the concept of Sustainability with guest facilitator Jane Genovese from Live the Solution (
www.livethesolution.com),- Watching the Leonardo DiCaprio 11 th Hour documentary (
www.11thhouraction.com), or- Analysing the issues raised by the Story of Stuff short clip (
www.storyofstuff.com).

A Black Cockatoo was a surprise but welcome guest to one session to highlight the impact our decisions can unwittingly have on native fauna and flora. This enjoyable afternoon spent outdoors was perhaps cosmically blessed with spectacular weather.

Athletics Season

Athletics Season

Over the past fortnight the boys from the Senior School took part in the PSA Inter-School Athletics, and Quadrangular Athletics Carnivals.

On Friday 4 September at Ern Athletics Complex in Cannington, Scotch proved far too strong on the track and field, blowing away its competitors in Guildford, Christ Church and Wesley to take out the Lynn Shield Quadrangular Athletic Carnival.

Unfortunately, the great heights reached by the Scotch boys could not be replicated at the PSA Inter-School Athletics Carnival held at the brand new WA Athletics Stadium in Perry Lakes on Friday 11 September. With wet and wild conditions the norm throughout the day, Scotch struggled to keep pace with the athletic prowess of Hale and Aquinas to finish in fourth position.